Lawrence F. O'Brien III

Founder, OB-C Group

Lawrence F. O’Brien, III, has been described by the Washington Post as a “major Democratic operative.” He was selected by The Hill newspaper as one of Washington’s “Top Lobbyists” in its first survey in 2007 and has been chosen every year subsequently.

For a period of twenty consecutive years, Mr. O’Brien has been engaged at the highest participation levels with the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC). He has served continuously as the Chair of the DSCC’s premier individual donor project, the Legacy Circle, since the program’s creation in 2006. His term of service as Chair of the Legacy Circle has coincided with the stewardship of the DSCC by Senators Schumer, Menendez, Murray, and Tester, respectively, and has involved a working collaboration with each one of them. He also has received what the DSCC describes as “the highest honor” it can bestow, an award of lifetime membership in its Majority Trust program. In the award letter to Mr. O’Brien, Senator Schumer, then Chair of the DSCC, stated, “. . . I can’t think of a more qualified Democrat to receive this honor.”

In addition, Mr. O’Brien has an extensive history of involvement and interaction at the highest levels with the House Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and with the House Democratic leadership. He is a long-standing member of the DCCC’s maximum participation program, the Speaker’s Cabinet, and its Pelosi Team 100 program.  

Mr. O’Brien served as a member of the Carter Administration Treasury Department from 1977-1979. He worked with the Congress and various Executive Branch departments on legislative matters involving income, estate, excise and energy taxes, trade and domestic finance issues.

He was an associate attorney in tax from 1972-1977 and then a full tax partner in the law firm of Breed, Abbott & Morgan for the period 1979-1983. He was a full tax partner in the law firm of Dewey Ballantine, in its Washington, D.C. office, from 1983 until 1993. He withdrew in 1993 to co-found the firm of O’Brien-Calio. In 2001, that lobbying partnership was succeeded by The OB-C Group. 

Mr. O’Brien is a past President, a founding incorporator, and an original and still serving board member of the Foundation for the National Archives of the United States, a tax-exempt charitable and educational organization affiliated with the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The “Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery,” the Archives’ display space for major temporary exhibits, was dedicated and opened in the National Archives building in 2004 and is named in memory of Mr. O’Brien’s deceased father.

Mr. O’Brien received a B.A. degree with honors from Harvard College in 1967 and a J.D. degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1972. He served a 13-month tour of duty in Vietnam with the U.S. Army in 1969-1970 and was awarded the Bronze Star.